Phone charger suddenly stopped working

Maybe I should clarify. I have an update. All of my NON-certified cables began to register an error message that they were not the right ones, though I'd used them all along. They will not charge, but I've discovered, as someone else told me, that if it is charged for 8 or more hours, it will work.

Last night my last cable pooped. I made the 16 mile journey (about 5 local roads) in the pouring rain in 25 minutes. There were some white knuckles on the hands of other drivers near me. I quickly tested new cables, and plugged one into a portable battery I've been using. Just as an aside, the battery will read 30, then 7, then 2. I may plug it in and it will go to 20. I got to the car in the first row and it had charged to about 25%. **** fast. I watched as it rose quickly to about 80%. I tried it in my auto charger and it charged quickly there.

So the first question is, do some cables charge more quickly? The second question is why, after a software upgrade would non-certified parts suddenly cease to work and produce errors. There's no question that the IOS had a higher gateway or checked for these new cables. You can find many, many complaints about this. The cable should either work or perhaps work slowly.

It has made a whole lot of people who had bought other cables pay more to Apple via royalties.

I don't see black helicopters, or believe the government is preparing prisons for the population. But businesses do develop "creative" ways to stick it to their competition and generate more revenue from existing clients.

Try using the SIM eject poker to scoop fluff out of the charging port on the bottom of your iPhone. The same thing happened to me and that was the very quick fi from the phone shop I took it to!

The day I upgraded to IOS 9, most of my cables gave me the error. I went into T-Mobile and the guy said the same thing happened. I suspect that Apple provides some id to be placed in each certified cable and charges for that number. There are thousands of such comments all over.

The new IOS seems to be able to read and identify that number and all those who did not pay the fee have their cords made ineffective. It may not legally be restraint of trade or blackmail, but that's the impact. I'm sure they have an explanation that this is the only way to ensure the cords are safe and effective.

This limits creativity, imagination and new products that meet the needs of the owner of the new phone. It also ensures Apple has all the technical standards from anyone providing competition to their own cables. As cables break easily and disappear (often as quickly as pencils, pens, lighters, etc.), there is a large, continual revenue stream to Apple from anyone who has one of their devices.

Imagine if all food you purchased for your refrigerator had to register and pay a fee to the manufacturer of that fridge. What if all those who sat in your car had to register and pay a fee....or each gas had to be certified. It stifles innovation. Isn't that one of Apple's core values?

Hogwash. I have all the lightning cables from all my iOS devices since they first came out and ALL work with iOS 9.1 on ALL my devices (iPad Air 2, iPad Mini, iPhone 5s, iPhone 6s. YOU have something wrong with YOUR phone. There's no conspiracy here.

Rick's Escaping NJ wrote:

Maybe I should clarify. I have an update. All of my NON-certified cables began to register an error message that they were not the right ones, though I'd used them all along. They will not charge, but I've discovered, as someone else told me, that if it is charged for 8 or more hours, it will work.

Last night my last cable pooped. I made the 16 mile journey (about 5 local roads) in the pouring rain in 25 minutes. There were some white knuckles on the hands of other drivers near me. I quickly tested new cables, and plugged one into a portable battery I've been using. Just as an aside, the battery will read 30, then 7, then 2. I may plug it in and it will go to 20. I got to the car in the first row and it had charged to about 25%. **** fast. I watched as it rose quickly to about 80%. I tried it in my auto charger and it charged quickly there.

So the first question is, do some cables charge more quickly? The second question is why, after a software upgrade would non-certified parts suddenly cease to work and produce errors. There's no question that the IOS had a higher gateway or checked for these new cables. You can find many, many complaints about this. The cable should either work or perhaps work slowly.

It has made a whole lot of people who had bought other cables pay more to Apple via royalties.

What did you upgrade FROM? iOS 8.1 started testing the cable to verify that it was either an Apple cable or an Apple certified cable. This is nothing new. They did it because there were many cases with non-certified cables destroyed the phone they were used with. The cable is not just wires; it has 3 custom microcircuits in it, and counterfeit circuits can ruin the phone. There's also a safety question; some devices do not provide proper line to load isolation; last year a user in China died because they used a cheap knockoff USB power adapter and a non-certified cable. Yes, she used it in a bathtub and the phone fell it, but if they had been certified parts she would not have died. The check is to protect you; there's no conspiracy here.

Any certified cable should charge the phone quickly to about 80%. The charger, which is in the phone, not in the cable and not in the USB adapter, then slows the charging rate gradually to avoid overcharging. On a 5S there should be no difference in charging rate for any certified cable, as long as the power source can supply at least 1 amp. The iPhone 6 and later WILL charge faster if a USB adapter capable of supplying 1.5 amps or more is used. It isn't a big difference, however, because of the tapering at 80%.

First, I see I must apologize. I did not take the time to learn the engineering of the cables and the certification process. My woeful ignorance is clear. I am not worthy of asking questions.

I suspect the number of non-certified cables destroying phones is the same as the number of people having been killed by the wrong charger/cable. This is one of those urban legends. Search for it. It's not quite at the level of cigarette wrappers buying an iron lung machine, but it does make the rounds, and many people pass them along.

If the purpose of preventing a 3rd party cable is to prevent damage (and the mythical death of Chinese women), then the cable should be tested for electrical and data throughput. After all, defects are possible in certified cables, too. This is the Donald Trump school of solving things--make blanket restrictions against anything we don't see as ours rather than address the problem.

Conspiracy may be a strong choice of words. And there may be a leap of faith (cynicism) on my part as to the reasons. But it does have an anti-competitive effect. The government may not prosecute many Restraint of Trade/Anti-Trust cases, but when items are produced to prevent others from doing business....well....?

The functionality of the cable is to transfer data and electricity. Verifying the power is correct is done in the charger and in the phone. Verifying data is done in the two instruments. The cable is essentially a dumb tube. Granted the wiring must be right, using the right materials, contacts, etc.

A cable may short. It will not increase the power to the phone. It may not provide enough. But the slowdown is caused by the new software, not the cable. The only need for a chip in the cable is for identification for certification and selling at a premium price.

I was a bit unclear, I do admit. The problem has been with cables, not chargers. I have always upgraded when the upgrade has been available, so I assume I have been on 8.1. Cables fall in the class with cigarette lighters, pens, and coffee mugs. They seem to decide whom their next owner should be and wander. Or perhaps they follow the path of the single socks that disappear through wormholes in the dryer. In any case, the market for cables is HUGE.

Stifling the competition by using a chip that tells the phone to accept the cable is clever. If it offers protection, it should be in the charger, where ac is converted to dc, etc. I'm not an electrical engineer, but I've ordered a lot of cables, including custom. Quality and proper connections are important. People have cables that go bad all the time. They are replaced. The testing in the phone does NOT test for data corruption or power issues--just whether they have been certified. Logic dictates that the purpose of the chip is to create a monopoly on this multi-million dollar market.

But again, I did not read the technical specifications. I've been more concerned with how to transfer files or why there are three different interfaces to icloud, or to what is itunes really for, and sleeping--when I should have been studying electrical diagrams and taking up electronics.

I AM an electrical engineer. The purpose of the 3 chips is NOT to make the cable proprietary. The 3 chips offload some of the functions of the phone, so more space is available inside the phone. BTW, how can the protection be in what you call the "charger" (which isn't really a charger; it's a DC power source), when Apple lets you use ANY USB power source? Apple does not control that part of the equation. And if they required you to use an Apple USB power adapter, you would then rant about that instead of the cable.

And how can the testing in the iPhone work, if the cable has just zapped the phone because the power was wrong, or the line to load isolation is defective?

Ignorance is a wonderful thing. It lets you make all kinds of really ridiculous claims.

Identify counterfeit or uncertified Lightning connector accessories - Apple Support

http://www.cnet.com/news/why-im-done-buying-cheap-lightning-cables/

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/07/15/apple-iphone-electrocution_n_3597548.ht ml

and another one:

http://www.inquisitr.com/1837171/death-by-iphone-woman-electrocuted/

I'm certain you are trying to be helpful, but insulting people online is not the way to do so. I thought I may have done something to invoke your ire, but I've been following this thread and found that in each reply you insult the person with your response.

I believe your intentions are good. Not everyone has your background and expertise. I appreciate your loyalty to Apple. By responding respectfully, and understanding that ignorance of electrical engineering is NOT a crime, more people will listen to your advice, get the fixes they need, and increase loyalty to Apple.

Peace.